The Christmas Bucketlist
by lostinwanderland
Summary: While Syaoran goes back to Hong Kong for two weeks to visit his family for winter break, Sakura comes up with a festive bucketlist for them to complete when he returns on Christmas Eve. Pure Christmas SS fluff. Threeshot. Happy holidays!
1. Part I: Letters

**Part I: Letters**

 **A/N:** Happy holidays everyone! I've started a threeshot in the spirit of Christmas and am really happy about it. I've had a lot of fun writing this chapter especially so hope you enjoy. :)

 **Disclaimer:** Characters of Clamp do not belong to me.

—

 **Dec. 9:**

Dear Syaoran,

I know I just saw you off at the airport, but I'm already missing you so I decided to start writing a letter even though I just let go of you an hour ago. I'm glad you are visiting your family for the majority of winter break because it's really important, but it doesn't make missing you any easier. I know. I'm such a sap.

Perfect timing, but I found this new Christmas song shortly after coming back from the airport and thought it was perfect for the given situation. It's called 'Sending you a little Christmas' so look it up when you have time.

I've already marked my calendar so that I can physically count down to your return, something that'll make me feel better. Until then, Tomoeda and I will both miss you very, very much.

" _So I'm sending you a little Christmas  
_ _wrapped up with love  
_ _a little peace, a little light  
_ _to remind you of  
_ _how I'm waiting for you, praying for you  
_ _I wanted you to see  
_ _So I'm sending you a little Christmas  
_ ' _til you come home to me."_

With all my love,  
Sakura

—

 **Dec. 9:**

Sakura—

I'm jotting this down really quickly while I have a moment even though I landed only a few hours ago because I don't want you to wait too long to receive a letter and, knowing you, you probably already wrote one by now.

So unsurprisingly, my sisters pounced on me the moment I stepped out of the terminal. I love Japan and being with you, but I also realized that I do miss Hong Kong in some ways. When we got outside, I took off my scarf and the first thing we ate was dim sum. I still need to teach you how to make some of the dishes, but we'll have time for that later. I forgot how warm it is here. I've really missed it, but don't get me wrong. I'd rather spend chilly winters with you for the rest of my life than be comfortably warm all by myself.

It's kind of nice to be able to write letters again like this. It forces me to practice my kanji while writing things I actually want to write.

Anyway, needless to say, I miss you already.

Love,  
Syaoran

P.S. Meiling sends her regards and has apparently made a scarf for you for Christmas for me to take back. Clearly, she doesn't understand how you survive in the cold every year.

—

 **Dec 11:**

Dear Syaoran,

Your letter made me so happy. I'm glad you also wrote to me the day you got home because you're right, I can never wait too long for a letter from you. You know me too well. And I'm sure your sisters missed little Syao-kun very much, as he is a very miss-able person. Enjoy the warmth without me while you can! And eat all the dim sum for me, too. For what you said in your letter, when you get back, I shall reward you with snuggly cuddle sessions to keep you warm for the rest of winter—oh, what? Oh, that's right. That's what we always do already. Hehe.

The last two days have been uneventful. I had to do a lot of chores. This upcoming last week of school is going to drag so badly, especially since you aren't here. Finals week always sucks. I still can't believe you took them all a week early just so you could leave for home. You're so smart, Syaoran! Which makes me feel even luckier that you decided to love me the most. :)

Tomoyo-chan and I are probably going to start some Christmas baking today, which will be fun! But I especially need the baking sessions so that I can de-stress from finals week and more importantly, practice making something really delicious for when you finally come back, and we all know Tomoyo-chan is great at that stuff. Any requests of what we should make? We will probably have more than one baking session this week. Kero-chan is going crazy with joy.

Hmm, I should go shopping for your Christmas gift sometime this week, too.

Miss you as always.

Love,  
Sakura

P.S. Tell Meiling-chan I said hi, too! And I need to send her a gift in the mail!

—

 **Dec. 13:**

Sakura—

Sorry if you had to wait a bit for this letter. I figured I should wait for your reply so that I can be more efficient and just write one giant letter.

Thanks for the compliment about me being smart, although really, I'd be dumb not to love you. And finals are just finals—you just have to get through them. Wishing you the best on yours. You'll do fine, though. Yes, even in math. I believe in you. Just remember that one shortcut I taught you and memorize all the formulas and show your work. It'll all be over soon and I'll be back before you know it.

By the way, I marked my calendar, too. I also looked up the song you mentioned and you're right. It fits perfectly. Just know that I'll be Home for Christmas soon enough. (Technically, I guess I am already home for the holidays, but let's be real, I'm not home until I'm back with you.)

Hong Kong has been good. Mother told me the schedule for the week. Apparently, I'm going to be dragged to more family gatherings than I can count on one hand. Figures. Since we're graduating by the end of this school year, I'm forced to undergo a few ceremonial traditions with my extended family, all the boring details of which I will spare you from. Other than that, I'll probably do some fun things too and I don't doubt Meiling will drag me to go shopping with her at some point.

And on the subject of baking, I've been meaning to try making macarons. Maybe you can get a head start on that because I hear it's quite difficult and time consuming to get it right. When I'm back, we can also think of ways to decorate them to make them festive-looking for Christmas. Hopefully, Daidouji already knows a few tips on them. Good luck and keep that plushie toy away for his own good. Lord knows he doesn't need anymore sugar this week.

Also, I hope you know I'm going to hold you accountable for those cuddle sessions. Wish I could redeem those now, even though it's not nearly as cold here. Damn it, I just made myself miss you even more terribly. I miss holding you and running my fingers through your hair, especially because you smell so nice. Only a week and a half left.

Love,  
Syaoran

P.S. I included a recipe for the macarons that I found online.

—

 **Dec. 15:**

Dear Syaoran,

You are the sweetest. I picked your letter up on my way to school this morning! I got a little bit sick last night so I went to bed early and totally forgot to check. I meant to tell Onii-chan to check for me but well…you know. He might burn it. You can probably imagine me rolling my eyes right here. But don't laugh. You _both_ need to just accept the fact that you are both important men in my life and get used to each other already.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestion! And for including the recipe. (I love that you drew a bear on the corner.) I will attempt the macarons. No challenge is too great for a determined Sakura! I'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully it won't be a total disaster. The other day, Tomoyo-chan and I ended up baking a pie. It was delicious, but I feel like she did most of the work as usual. And Kero-chan did most of the eating…as usual. You're right though, I need to figure out a system to keep him away. Le sigh.

Good luck with all that ceremonial stuff. You don't have to feel like you're going to bore me, but it will probably be easier to tell me in person anyway. I'm sure it's a lot to take in so hang in there! I feel bad in a way because it feels kind of like my fault that they don't get to see enough of you. But I know, I know, you always tell me it's your choice to be in Japan ultimately and I'm very grateful for that. I really feel like the luckiest. Also, now that you mention it, I can't believe we're graduating high school so soon.

I've decided once you get back, we should go through a Christmas bucketlist on Christmas Eve to Christmas day! Here are some of my thoughts:

1\. Take a walk in the snow  
2\. Exchange presents  
3\. Build a snowman  
4\. Go sledding on an ice block (I will enlist the help of the Ice Card)  
5\. Bake macarons  
6\. Hot chocolate cuddle session

Feel free to add your own in your next letter. :)

Also, Yamazaki-kun is telling lies again. I think, anyway.

December 15 today means eight days left before you get back. Four days left of school and the math final is my very last one. I swear they are trying to torture me on purpose! It's much harder to get through without you.

Love you lots,  
Sakura

—

 **Dec: 17:**

Sakura—

Did you write that last letter in class? Silly Sakura, can't even pay attention for the last week of school. Not that I blame you. I just think it's terribly cute.

I'm writing this at the end of an exhausting day. Meiling took me shopping and I'm so tired. But I always look forward to your letters. She claims that I wasn't trying hard enough to find you a Christmas present, but I think I did fairly okay. I think she just has a different idea of what "trying hard" means. We saw this giant stuffed animal bear in the mall and it reminded me of you. This is when missing you sucks because I see so many little things throughout the day that make me think, "if only Sakura were here."

After shopping we had dinner with some more extended family and everyone kept asking about you. It was really draining. I feel like I should be telling you more about my days since I'm on vacation, but I don't think there's anything very interesting to report back about. All my eventful days are always with you.

Also, in response to what you mentioned in the letter about how you think it's your fault my family doesn't see me: I've said it before but I'll say it again. You don't realize how precious and special you are. You know I'd move mountains to be with you and make sure you're happy so it's really my own decision that affects my family, not yours. They understand in the end, I think, but I sense that'll be a conversation for later.

I like your bucketlist. It covers basically everything I'd want to do with you for Christmas. But maybe add these, too:

7\. Sight-see some Christmas lights around the neighborhood  
8\. Make some homemade s'mores in the fireplace

On another note, you're sick and I'm not there to take care of you. Make sure you stay warm and rest well. Hang in there, love, I'll be there soon.

Love you more,  
Syaoran

—

 **Dec. 19:**

Dear Syaoran,

For your information, I wrote that letter in class _after_ I finished the Japanese final early. So, ha. Speaking of finals, I'm done! Yay! I don't know if I did that well in math but hopefully it went well enough. I showed my work just like you showed me how. Now all I can do is wait and pray that my score wasn't too bad.

Yukito-san came over today because he and Onii-chan finished their finals a day earlier than me and we all had a huge dinner, which he helped make. It was a lot of fun! Just like the old days. He finally convinced Onii-chan to give me a ride to the airport to pick you up, heh. I would've found a way regardless, but it was a nice gesture on his part.

Update on the macarons: it was a total disaster. Complete and utter mess. Good news: I think Kero-chan literally licked everything clean. Bad news: I think Kero-chan literally licked everything clean. He was banging off the walls. But everything is…mostly clean. So, yeah, how about we bake at your apartment when you get home so we can avoid a repeat of that.

Back to the macarons. Tomoyo-chan knew a thing or two about macarons, but she hadn't tried it before herself so things went understandably wrong. It probably takes a lot of practice but I'm sure when you're here, you'll be sensible and know what to do.

I've added your additions to the list and it reminded me that I passed a house the other day that was really beautifully decorated and I wished you were with me. You're so right. Missing someone is the worst when you experience little moments in the day and just wish they were there to experience it, too. I hope you said hello to the giant bear for me.

I can't believe I've survived this long without you. Just four more days! I'm not going to be able to sleep at all the night before you return. I'll be too excited. I keep rereading your last letter because it was so sweet. You make me the happiest. I love you. :)

The luckiest girl in the world,  
Sakura

P.S. I included a little gift for Meiling-chan! And for your sisters too. You'll get yours when you're back here. :)

—

 **Dec. 22:**

Sakura—

I'm sure you did well on your finals because it's you. Everything will be all right.

Meiling says thank you and that she'll write you a letter later too. The gift you gave my sisters was overkill. They went ballistic over how cute the customized necklaces were and I couldn't be in the same room as them for several minutes due to the ringing in my ears. All this to say, they really loved the gesture and ended up dragging me out to go shopping again yesterday so that I could help them each pick out a gift for you. So guess I'll be bringing a sack-full of gifts back to you.

Also, given the fact that you promised me all those cuddle sessions, I assumed we were going to be at my apartment for the majority of the time anyway because with your Onii-san and the stuffed animal around, peace doesn't seem to exist at your place. So we are definitely going to attempt macarons together there. Don't worry, we'll get it right this time.

I guess I'll be seeing you very soon at the airport, then, so don't bother replying to this letter. Save it all for me later. I'm coming home to you very, very soon.

Love,  
Syaoran

—

-to be continued-


	2. Part II: Airport

**A/N:** I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but this story mostly follows manga canon, but has references to the anime. Anyway, the second part is up! I need to finish the third before Christmas! I've been putting off my other Eriol/Tomoyo project to finish this for Christmas because I just missed writing about SS for a bit, heheh.

Also, when I was writing this, it made me realize how much of a slice-of-life piece CCS as a whole series is. So I hope the first part isn't too boring. :) Enjoy! And happy holidays!

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters! They belong to CLAMP!

—

Sakura awoke the morning before Christmas Eve feeling jittery from excitement. She didn't sleep enough but she simply couldn't stay idly in bed anymore as her heart rate refused to slow and the butterflies in her stomach pounded a fast, rapid rhythm. Without further ado, she shot out of bed, looked at the clock and groaned.

"Hoe!" she cried, barely paying attention to the thump in her drawer as Kero-chan woke up in alarm.

"Whuzz happened?" he yelled half-consciously, pushing the drawer open and flying out drunkenly.

"It's only eight thirty! I still have to wait twelve hours, my nerves can hardly take this," she said dramatically, holding her alarm clock and glaring at it as though it had offended her.

"Whaaa?" Kero-chan swayed to a standstill in mid-air and rubbed his eyes drowsily, his nightcap falling in his face. "So nothing's attacked ya?"

"No," she said, shoulders slumping. "Sorry for waking you. You can go back to sleep."

"R-right, then," he yawned and without any further objections, slid back into his drawer.

What was she supposed to do for the next eleven hours before she had to leave for the airport? She wished she could tell Syaoran how she was feeling but it was no use writing a letter if he was boarding his flight today. It was frustrating, the transition between terminals. It felt like the person was in no man's land where nothing could reach them until they landed.

She sighed wearily and glanced out the window. It was a mild winter's day; it had snowed last night but was now sunny. Perfect. It would hopefully not be too cold for Syaoran when he returned. Maybe if they got home early enough, they could have their hot chocolate cuddle session a day early—not that they couldn't have more than one. Speaking of which, she needed to buy ingredients for the hot chocolate still…

Her face lit up. She could go shopping for all the things they needed for completing the bucketlist! That would be the plan.

And so, after getting dressed, doing her hair, and brushing her teeth, Sakura was on her way to the grocery store (with Kero-chan yelling, "Buy me some Takoyaki on the way!")

—

"Tadaima!" she called out as she pushed open the front door with her shoulder, cheeks rosy from the cold and hands completely full with several bags of eggs, flour, sugar, almonds, and of course, s'mores and hot chocolate ingredients.

"Where's my Takoyaki?" Kero-chan said immediately as he flew downstairs to her.

"Shut up, Kero-chan and help me, will you?" she said, rolling her eyes and handing him a light bag.

"That trip took you forever," he groaned, carrying the bag she handed him to the kitchen and dropping it off. "It's already lunchtime and I'm hungry."

He immediately silenced himself after one glare from her and proceeded to brush a few snowflakes off of her bangs. "I mean—welcome home, Sakura-sama, I'm sure you've had a really tiring shopping trip, let me help you with all those other bags, too."

"And steer clear of those marshmallows or you'll be banned from eating dinner for a whole week," she said ruthlessly, taking off her scarf and flinging it over the couch.

"Whaaa? All this for the brat?" he said but then froze when he saw her expression. "I mean—of course, I won't touch the marshmallows!"

Once everything was placed where they needed to be in their respective fridge or pantry shelf space, Kero-chan turned back to her.

"So?" he said expectantly. She shoved a small bag of Takoyaki in his hands to appease him.

"Help me do some chores so I can make lunch," she said mercilessly as he cowered under her look.

—

Sakura wiped her forehead having just finished mopping all the floors and looked up at the clock. It was still five. One hour until dinner. Two hours left before she left for the airport. Three hours left before they would reunite. To break it all down, fifteen minutes to shower, forty-five minutes to cook, one hour to eat, thirty to forty-five minutes to get to the airport, then fifteen to thirty minutes before she could see Syaoran-kun again.

"I finished the laundry," Kero-chan grumbled.

"Thanks, Kero-chan," she said. "You can have my share of dessert tonight."

"Yay!" he exclaimed joyfully and with that he flew upstairs to take a quick nap.

"Tadaima," she heard her Onii-chan's voice from the front door— _finally_. He had just come back from work, which meant that after dinner, they would finally, finally, finally be going to the airport.

"Konbanwa, Onii-chan!" she greeted him at the door. Her face fell slightly when she saw him dust off a whole lot of snow off his coat. "Was it snowing a lot?"

"Only a little," he replied. "Don't worry about me, you know I can handle snow."

"Of course you can," she said happily, beaming up at him with those pleading green eyes. He examined her with a pointed look after he took of his shoes and sighed. She knew he was just resigning himself to the undeniable truth that Sakura and Syaoran really did love each other but she rolled her eyes at the fact that he had to resign himself to it every single time.

"Alright, kaiju. We'll go after dinner," he said, ruffling her hair. She was so excited she even forgot to stomp on his foot for calling her a kaiju.

—

The butterflies were back at full force; her heart was pounding faster and faster, accelerating quickly with the speed of the car and threatening to burst out of her chest. She was going to the airport. She was going to see him so, _so_ soon.

"Arigatou, Onii-chan," she said turning to Touya.

He vaguely studied her for a moment before sighing and turning back to face the road before them.

"Don't mention it," he muttered. She smiled cheerfully at him. Snow was pounding the dashboard as the windshield wipers did their best to clear it. The weather seemed to have taken a turn for the worst, Sakura thought sadly, thinking of how Syaoran would be extra cold.

When Touya finally pulled up into the arrivals side of the terminal, she already had her hand on the door handle.

"Do you want me to wait here?" he asked patiently.

"Well, I wouldn't want to keep you stuck in traffic here so…it's fine. I'm sure we can take the bus back and then Syaoran-kun can walk me home," she said quickly, opening the door.

"What?!" Touya exclaimed, but too late. Sakura was already slamming the car door behind her. He rolled down the window immediately at once to ask some clarifying questions but she turned back to call out "Bye! I'll see you soon, Onii-chan! Thanks again for the ride!"

She waved goodbye and saw his look of resigned irritation for one last second before she turned around and ran into the crowd moving towards the terminal. For his sake, she spent a short moment wondering if she should have maybe told him the plan earlier. _He'll live,_ she eventually told herself once she entered the building, turning her thoughts away from feeling guilty about Touya and focused them instead on finding Syaoran.

 _Syaoran!_ She was going to see him so soon.

Her heart raced with her legs along the halls of the airport as she tried to find the waiting area. She kept accidentally bumping shoulders with people passing her in the opposite direction but she hardly noticed. Her only focus was seeing him the moment he got out of the terminal.

When she reached her destination and joined the rest of the people waiting for their friends' or loved ones' arrivals, she searched for a clock. Her heart seemed to skip a step when she read 8:17 upon it. So his flight should have landed a few minutes ago. He'd be out so, so soon. She took a deep breath and, smiling to herself, found a seat with the best view possible.

 _8:20_.

She imagined him still waiting at his seat for the other passengers in front of him to file out before he could finally disembark the aircraft, perhaps leaning his chin on his hand and looking bored.

 _8:28_.

He was probably completely off the plane by now and slowly making his way through the crowd towards baggage claim. She imagined him power walking on the moving walkways to give him more speed because surely, he was just as excited as she was to see each other again. The thought warmed her up inside like the hot chocolate she hoped to share with him later. He was getting closer.

 _8:50_.

She couldn't help herself anymore. He must have claimed his baggage by now and was now walking towards the exit where she would meet him. She got up from her seat and walked towards the terminal.

 _9:15_.

Okay, she thought. Maybe the baggage claim took longer than she thought. Or maybe…then she remembered. The customs line always takes forever. The adrenaline that had been pumping inside her chest slowed at this thought, causing her to feel slightly woozy from standing up for so long. Swaying a little, she decided to sit back down. She had pictured in her head that she would run up to him the second he came out but there was nothing to worry about; she knew she would easily spot him the moment he appeared and had plenty of time therefore to tackle him immediately.

 _9:45_.

She knew she was acting like a crazy person because she kept sitting down then standing up and looking around then sitting back down just to jump back up again because she kept thinking she saw a glimpse of his chestnut brown hair only to realize it wasn't him. Finally, she accepted the fact that she simply couldn't sit still for another minute and was probably bothering the people around her. Pacing around the area, she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of that familiar messy brown hair she knew so well while checking the digital clock on the wall in between intervals.

It had been about a good hour since he had landed. Maybe customs was taking a really ridiculously long time. She looked around at her surroundings. There was the digital clock she had been staring at, a sign saying T3, a little boy climbing around his mother's neck, a coffee shop—wait a minute. A sign saying T3. Did she get the wrong terminal? Was Syaoran perhaps waiting on the other side of the airport, disappointed that she wasn't there? What if _he_ had been waiting for _her_ to show up for the last forty-five minutes?

Panicking at the thought, her heart rate surged and she sat back down to catch her breath. She couldn't leave Syaoran waiting, whatever happened. She frantically got up again and ran to the info desk at once.

 _Breathe_ , she told herself as she dodged between the diminishing crowds. _You can figure this out. Everything will be alright!_

She skidded to a halt in front of a help desk and nearly had a heart attack when she saw that there was someone still talking to the woman there.

 _Hyaku, hyaku_.

When the young man walked away at last, she ran up to the desk and spoke right away.

"Excuse me, which terminal is the flight from Hong Kong arriving at?" she asked breathlessly, crossing her fingers behind her back.

"Flight from Hong Kong?" the woman responded curtly. Her movements were infuriatingly slow as she maneuvered the mouse to click on something. "Let me check for you."

Sakura tapped her fingers on the counter out of impatience but tried to maintain a show of politeness as the woman pulled something up on her computer and was leisurely scrolling through the list.

"There are three different flights scheduled from Hong Ko—"

"Japan Airlines 7031!" she burst out quickly. The woman raised her eyebrow and typed the search into her keyboard.

"Ah, it says here that Flight 7031 is indeed scheduled to arrive at Terminal 3, but wait a minute—" she said, narrowing her eyes to read her computer screen better.

"But what?" Sakura asked nervously. "But's" could never mean good news.

"I'm sorry to tell you this but that flight has been delayed," she said calmly.

"What? Delayed? But it didn't start being a snowstorm until an hour ago!" Sakura cried.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. It seems that weather is only partially the cause; one or more of the flights prior to Flight 7031 were delayed as well due to the weather from their respective departure locations, causing a chain effect. Given this current snowstorm now, it is also possible that when the flight eventually does take off, it may need to take some detours before it can safely land," she explained patiently.

"It hasn't even left Hong Kong yet?" Sakura asked, stunned.

"Actually, it left just forty minutes ago," the woman amended, checking the page.

"Oh…is that so?" she asked blankly, calculating the time in her head. Syaoran wouldn't get here until at least past midnight.

"I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you."

"Will it arrive in about four hours like it usually does?"

"When the weather is involved, I'm afraid I can't say for sure."

"Arigatou," Sakura said somberly and turned away to go back to the seat she deserted earlier. The excitement and adrenaline rush that had burned inside her all throughout the day seemed to have extinguished at this news. The thought of not knowing how much longer she had to wait before she could see Syaoran had to be the cruelest form of torture.

She sat down in another seat in front of the terminal feeling defeated and considered her options.

She contemplated calling Touya to come pick her up for now so that she could wait at home and then come back later when Syaoran finally arrived. But then, she reflected, she wouldn't want to make him drive her back to the airport at one in the morning. She could also call Touya to take her home now and forget about staying at the airport altogether but that meant she would not be reuniting with Syaoran until the morning after and she missed him very, very much.

There was also the frustrating fact that she had no idea when Syaoran was actually going to arrive. What if she went back home and then came back too late? Syaoran would probably assume she left the airport after finding out about the delay and go home by himself. If the plane had already left Hong Kong, it was bound to arrive eventually. No, she was already here. She could wait longer.

Resigning herself to what looked like a long and excruciating three hours, she got out of her seat to buy herself a hot chocolate.

—

 _12:00 AM_.

The alarm she set on her phone rang out of her pocket to alert her it was midnight. She checked the display board for arrival times. Underneath the title "Estimated," his flight read 12:10.

 _So close_ , she thought exasperatedly. She had spent most of the last two and a half hours walking around all the shops in the airport out of boredom and eventually bought herself a snack. She also had been sitting around in different locations to people-watch for several minutes at a time. Now, however, she was lying down across four chairs and fighting to stay awake. _He's almost here_ , she would tell herself sleepily. _Don't fall asleep._

She looked outside the windows. The snowstorm had been raging on the entire time but it had definitely improved significantly from an hour ago.

 _Please stop and let Syaoran land_.

She turned her head to check the "Estimated" time again and her jaw dropped. It had changed to 12:45. She wanted to cry.

 _Nothing good will come out of crying_ , his voice echoed in her mind.

Perhaps she could do something about this, she thought, drawing out her star wand necklace. But Kero-chan had said to only use it in times of emergency or when she really needed it, as long as she was very intentional with her spells. She thought about it. She only needed the air to be clear for a short amount of time to help them land. That was doable.

She made up her mind and stood up from her seat. This, in her opinion, was a certified emergency.

If the flight was delayed another thirty minutes, it must be fairly close and had maybe just taken a detour like the woman behind the info desk had explained. The only problem was that the airport was always full of people, but if Eriol-kun could always keep people away from the scene, then so could she.

After a few tries, she found a fairly deserted corridor with windows overlooking the runway and concentrated on keeping everyone away from her. Lifting the star wand in front of her, she began.

"The key which hides the powers of the stars, show your true form before me. I, Kinomoto Sakura, command you under our contract, release!" she grabbed onto her wand and pulled out a card. "Snow, hold back the storm for as long as you can!"

When the card activated, it flew forward through the window and outside. She wasn't sure if it would work, but she knew that in the past, Watery had done a similar job when Eriol-kun almost drowned Rika-chan. She recalled the way it reversed the waves, calming the water back to its normal levels.

She watched the scene with bated breath; the runway before her was slowly, slowly clearing. It was working, she noted excitedly, but she kept her hands tightly gripped around the staff, focusing all her energies and all her desires of seeing Syaoran soon into keeping the storm at bay for as long as she possibly could. The skies surrounding the runway were now clear of snow.

Minutes passed and her energy levels were depleting fast. She had no idea how long she needed to keep this up for but she knew she couldn't do it for much longer.

 _Please work_ , she thought desperately, trying her hardest to keep the staff up for as long as she possibly could with her now dwindling power.

Ten minutes passed, then fifteen. She fell down onto one knee, continuing to fight against her growing weariness to keep her strength up. She had to hold on, she had to make sure Syaoran's flight could get here sooner than later, even if…even if she…fainted…

Her mind was slipping slowly and she forced herself to stay focused. She couldn't faint. But at that moment, Kero-chan's voice resounded in her head. _That's enough recklessness from you!_

Reluctantly, she let everything go and called the Snow card back. It returned to her obediently and safely.

"A-arigatou," she muttered thankfully to it before it vanished inside her pocket. Kero-chan's right _,_ she thought, now leaning her weight against the window; if she kept going until she fainted, the Snow card might have lost control and who knew what horrors would have happened then. She glanced outside to see the snowstorm start up again and hoped with all her heart that the time she bought for any arriving flights included Syaoran's.

After catching her breath, she ran back to the terminal to check the display board. Under "Estimated" for Syaoran's flight, it still read 12:45. Afraid to hope but desperate to know, her eyes quickly followed the line across the row to land upon the word under "Remarks" and her heart skipped a beat—it had changed to "Landed."

"Yatta!" she exclaimed in the middle of the waiting area, not caring about the fact that there were strangers around her giving her funny looks. At that moment, however, her eyes drooped and she returned to her seat to collapse across the same four chairs. She needed to rest for the next twenty or thirty minutes while Syaoran made his way through the terminal. She would see him soon. She wouldn't fall asleep. She absolutely refused. She wouldn't fall…asleep…

—

"I won't sleep!" she declared suddenly when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She sat up at once and swayed when she felt the blood rushing to her head, causing her to feel disoriented. She shut her eyes tightly for a moment to gather her consciousness back up and tried to remember how long she had been asleep for before she remembered she was still at the airport. "Oh, no I fell asleep!"

"I can see that," she heard a voice say in amusement. Her eyes shot open. She knew that voice all too well.

"Syaoran!" she cried, lifting her eyes and taking in the sight of his chestnut brown hair and amber eyes and the smile he reserved only for her.

"Hey," he said, trying not to laugh. "I made it."

She threw her arms around him immediately and held on tightly, taking the time to remember what it was like to be in his arms and feel his hands stroking her hair. "Sorry I fell asleep."

"Makes sense given the energy you exerted back there," he whispered into her ear. She looked up at him guiltily.

"You saw?" she asked.

"I sensed your magic," he explained. "I don't know if what you did was responsible but…we'll make an exception this time."

He touched his nose to hers to express that he wasn't mad or going to scold her. She giggled sheepishly and leaned in to meet his kiss.

"I'm so relieved you're finally home," she said, arms still wrapped around him. She never seemed to be able to get enough of his scent and how warm he felt as she snuggled into the crook of his neck, or the way his silent chuckle reverberated through his chest under her cheeks whenever she embraced him like this. But most of all, she would never be able to get enough of his arms wrapping themselves just as tightly around her, holding her so securely and so assuredly. Here, in the warmth and stability of his arms, after all these weeks and hours she just spent at the airport, she finally felt home at last.

—

-to be continued-


	3. Part III: Bucketlist

A/N: It's been a whole year since I finally got back to this. I hope the tone of the piece didn't change from the previous chapters to now because of how long it'd been since I came back to it. Regardless of all this though, I hope you guys enjoy it!

Special thanks to ourvelvetpetals for looking it over!

* * *

An alarm was ringing in the distance. Sakura tried to reach out a hand to shut off her clock but she couldn't move a muscle. Her arm felt sluggish and heavy as though it were trapped in jello. Fighting her way up to consciousness, she vaguely wondered how little sleep she had gotten to warrant such paralysis.

As she slowly came into wakefulness, it registered that the sound of the alarm was less familiar than her usual wake-up call. Before she could figure out what was different about it however, the noise cut off and she felt something shift beneath her, and slowly the memory from last night came rushing back.

"S-Syaoran, what time is it?"

"Dunno," he murmured sleepily. "Hit snooze. Ten more min."

Sakura lifted her head to squint at the clock. 7:00.

"Hoe!" she screamed, jolting Syaoran alert. "You were supposed to set the alarm for 6:45 if you wanted to snooze!"

"Wh-what?" He sat up and gripped his head. " _Kuso_. You're right. What time does your brother get up?"

"It doesn't matter, he was already suspicious last night, and I didn't even _mean_ to stay over," she said, getting out of bed and heading to his closet. She changed out of Syaoran's spare pajamas and into the clothes she wore the night before.

"I'm guessing I shouldn't walk you home this time?" he asked as she reemerged.

"Nope, I'll text you when the coast is clear," she said, giving him a swift kiss on the cheek and running out of his room.

When Sakura reached her house, she summoned the Fly card so that she could access her window on the second floor. Upon breaking and entering her own room, she quickly changed into PJs and got into bed. Still, even if Touya weren't suspicious, he would've woken up around 8. And sure enough, he peeked in shortly afterwards. Sakura did her best to act asleep, and reflected that this must be how Kero-chan felt whenever Touya walked in on him.

After a few seconds of Sakura steadying her breathing and trying to look convincingly unconscious, Touya sighed and left, closing the door behind him. When his footsteps died on the other side of the door, Kero-chan popped out of his drawer and, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, spoke with a yawn.

"You know, I think he's onto you."

"Kero-chan!" she hissed. "Was I that obvious?"

He shrugged. "It's not a matter of you being obvious, but your onii-chan being too sharp."

She groaned and grabbed her phone from the floor to text Syaoran.

 _Well, I made it back in time, but I think he still knows. Wanna come by around 10 and help me carry stuff to your place?_

 _Just don't let onii-chan see you._

 _ **Sure. Don't worry too much. Love you.**_

 _Love you, too._

And with that, she fell back asleep to catch up on those missing hours from the night before.

* * *

He could watch Sakura sleep forever, Syaoran reflected as he stared at her snoozing form. He had just climbed the tree to her window and was let in reluctantly by Kerberos, who warned him that this habit of his was most likely not going to go unnoticed by her brother for much longer. Shrugging it off for another time in a row, he sat down by her bed and leaned his chin upon the mattress next to her face.

Reaching out a hand, he pulled back her bangs, smiling as she stirred. Blinking awake, she smiled back.

"I don't recall telling you to use the window entrance today," she said with a yawn.

"Uh, per your words," he said, pulling out his phone to read her text out loud. " _'Don't let onii-chan see you.'_ "

She giggled, which Syaoran took to mean that she was secretly, or rather, not-so-secretly, pleased by this turn of events, and was merely giving him a hard time.

"And besides," he added, looking away to avoid her gaze. "I-it's… cute when you're asleep."

"I'm still in the room, you know," came Kerberos's voice from the drawer.

" _S-so anyways_ ," Syaoran pressed on, feeling his face heat up as he determinedly ignored the guardian beast. "What's on the agenda today?"

"Mm, first, you need to get out of here without being spotted by onii-chan. Then, I'll grab the groceries and meet you down the corner of the street and we'll attempt those macarons—"

"Save some for me!" Kerberos, the ever annoying beast, interjected, to which Syaoran glared.

"Kero-chan, we've been through this," Sakura said in an exasperated tone.

"Oh, come on, you know you're going to have leftovers," he griped.

" _We'll discuss that later_ ," Sakura said through gritted teeth. Then turning back to Syaoran, she continued. "Anyways. Then we can maybe take a walk in the snow and build snowmen and then go back and have hot chocolate and open presents?"

"Sounds great," he said smiling. "I'll leave you to change and get ready."

"See you in a bit," she said, giving him a peck on the lips.

Walking over to the exit, Syaoran pulled up the window pane and climbed out. After successfully dismounting from the tree, he took his time walking over to the end of the street where Sakura said she'd meet him and waited. Sakura appeared twenty minutes later wrapped snuggly in a peacoat carrying four giant bags in her hands. Rushing over to help her, he took two bags from her as she huffed warm breath into the cold air.

"Onii-chan told me to be home by 1 am tonight and that he'd be at home at that time so he'd know," she sighed. "I think Yukito-san is staying over, which is so not fair."

"Don't worry," Syaoran replied, putting an arm around her and pulling her close to his chest. "Everything will be alright."

"Thanks, Syaoran-kun," she grinned. "We'll make the most of the day."

And together they made their way back to his apartment.

* * *

"So it says here to mix the almond powder and sugar first," Sakura said, pointing to the recipe. "Last time, I wonder if maybe it went wrong because we mixed it too well."

"Well, I'll try my best," Syaoran shrugged, rolling up his sleeves.

"Ah, well, Tomoyo-chan lent me her electric mixer, which will be a big help. So we can use that," Sakura said, pulling the machine out from one of the bags. They set to work on their tasks, Syaoran grinding the almonds and Sakura beating the egg whites. The process of making sure every step was done correctly was complicated, but with determined spirits, they powered through.

"Wait," he said, as Sakura bent low over the baking sheet to squeeze out the batter. "I read that we should test just a few of them before putting more of them in the oven."

"Mm, that's a good idea, Syaoran-kun," she smiled. "Ano… can you do it then?"

"Sure," he nodded, taking the plastic bag of batter from her and with intent precision, filled two slots of the baking sheet with a good-sized macaron and placed it in the oven. As Sakura wiped her forehead from all the hard work they went through, her stomach grumbled loudly and she grinned sheepishly.

"Lunch," Syaoran said at once without hesitation. Sakura took out two packed bento lunches from her bag and they ate while the first three macarons baked.

As it turned out, the first batch had too many air bubbles on its surface. The second batch was too crumbly and for the third batch, the batter spread out flat on the baking sheet. By the fourth batch, Sakura was getting extremely frustrated.

"Ahh, these are exactly the same problems that came up when I tried it with Tomoyo-chan!" she wailed, wringing her hair out. Syaoran grabbed her wrists to stop her from ruining that beautiful head of hers and pulled them up to touch his lips to her knuckles.

"Hey," he said. "Don't worry. It's supposed to be difficult."

"I just thought I would've figured it out by now," she said, leaning her head against his chest.

"Remind me what your invincible spell is?" Syaoran asked.

" _Zettai daijoubu dayo_ ," she mumbled into his shirt.

"Louder?" he prompted, patting her on the head.

She lifted her chin up to look at him with a determined expression.

" _Zettai daijoubu dayo_ ," she repeated. Then her lips pursed as she tried to repress a laugh. "But you know, the invincible spell should be reserved for—you know— _actually_ life threatening situations."

"The girlfriend's upset, that's not a life threatening situation?—Ow," he winced, as Sakura had elbowed him in the ribs.

A loud _beep_ from the timer told them the fifth batch was ready.

"Well, come on," Syaoran said, jerking his head towards the oven. "Fifth time lucky?"

Nodding, Sakura detangled herself from Syaoran's arms and walked over to the oven. When she opened it, the sweet smell of the baked batter reached her nose and, squinting down at the baking sheet, found four perfectly rounded macarons lying there. Syaoran watched as the corners of her lips stretched into a wide open mouthed smile and reflected that there was hardly anything more beautiful than the look of pure joy on Sakura's face.

"Oh, Syaoran-kun, these are perfect! You did it!" she exclaimed as she pulled them out with her oven-mitted hands. "Now we just have to make sure we do it exactly right for the rest of them and then we can bake the entire batch together—er, Syaoran-kun?"

She looked up at him for reassurance and he suddenly realized how silent he was being as he stared at her. Clearing his throat, he shook out of his reverie and smiled.

"I'm just glad you're so happy about it," he said as she placed the baking sheet on the kitchen counter. "I'll try my best to recreate the rest of the macarons the exact same way."

"I know you can do it," she said with confidence. Syaoran knew for a fact that was true because to see her reach this level of excitement again and again, well, he'd do anything for that.

"For you, I will," he promised, taking up the pastry bag and steadying it over the next baking sheet.

* * *

After they had eaten their fill of macarons, they wrapped themselves up in warm coats and scarves and headed back outside for a walk in the snow. The air had grown unexpectedly chillier from the morning when they left Sakura's house and little flakes were falling from the sky.

"Are you cold?" she asked with a worried look on her face. Considering the fact that he had just been in Hong Kong less than 24 hours ago, Syaoran had to admit he was pretty damn cold. Sakura seemed to assume the worst because she reached out a hand to pull his scarf up higher so that it covered all the way up to his nose. "Poor Syaoran-kun."

"I'll b-be fine," he said through chattering teeth.

"Well, we can go back in if you—"

"No," he said firmly. He put an arm around her and walked them forwards. "We'll heat up by walking. I wouldn't want to miss a nice stroll through the park with you just because of the weather."

"I'm glad," she grinned as she wrapped an arm around his waist. "Because there's this beautifully decorated neighborhood near school that I've been dying to show you."

"Lead the way," he said, and they quickened their pace.

"Let me know if you get too cold, okay?" she said as they trudged along the snow-coated sidewalk.

"Shh, I told you not to worry about me," he said, squeezing her shoulder. "Tell me about how your week's been."

"Besides missing you, everything has been about the same," she said, shrugging. "Kero-chan defeated the new video game I got him for Christmas in three days, forced me to call Eriol-kun so he could tell Spinel-sun, and gloated for fifteen minutes straight. On the flip side, I got to talk with Eriol-kun for a bit and he seems to be doing well. Tomoyo-chan is going to France for a week and a half for vacation and she left three days ago. Onii-chan is being as mean as ever and tried to steal my food the other day. Mizuki-sensei has been writing to me still. Hmm, what else?"

They were now passing their high school, which was covered head to toe in a thick layer of snow. It was a peaceful sight nonetheless and as Syaoran eyes passed over the soccer field, he suddenly recalled sunnier days where Sakura made a habit of kissing him on the cheek before he went to practice. Thoughts like these, especially during an oncoming snowstorm, somehow made the air around them feel warmer.

"Hm, the Cards have given me a lot of comfort while you were gone," she continued, and her eyes lit up in the most adorable way. "I know you weren't gone for that long but… it was still really great of them. It's almost like they can tell when my heart feels a little bit less than whole."

The idea of Sakura feeling "less than whole" made him both happy and sad at the same time. In response, Syaoran turned his head and buried his nose in her hair.

"I wish you never had to feel that way," he said. "But as neither of us are perfect, we're bound to feel that way again sometimes, even if it's just from being physically apart. Regardless, I'm glad the Cards do that for you. You deserve to have that sort of support and comfort all throughout your life."

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "I know it's nobody's fault. I'm just glad to have you back now."

"Me too."

"Oh! Wait a minute," she said, pulling him by the arm. She had stopped walking and was tugging Syaoran back to where she stood. "Look. We're here."

Although the houses weren't all immediately visible to them, Syaoran could tell just by looking down the street and seeing faint Christmas lights blinking in the distance that they had indeed arrived. The block was bustling and full of couples holding hands in the snow, a warm glow in the air. The first house to their right had a full-on miniature toy ski lift running in circles in the garden with stuffed animals sitting in each lift. The owners had placed a canopy made of tarp over it to prevent the snow from ruining the mechanics and his brain went automatically into trying to figure out how the machine worked and how the owners set it up in the first place.

"Come on," she said, interrupting his thoughts and pulling him forward. The snow was still falling calmly onto the ground. "The one that really made me think of you is a few houses down."

Taking his hand, she maneuvered them both through the small crowd and stopped in front of one of the gates. Pointing forward, she said, "Look!"

Syaoran's gaze followed her finger and alighted upon a cute two story house decked out with giant teddy bears. There were two teddy bears sitting on the porch in the front and a Christmas tree stood in the garden decked out with teddy bear ornaments. Christmas lights upon Christmas lights were strung along nearly every inch of the house, giving the entire residence a bright and merry glow.

"Teddy bears," she said unnecessarily, but Syaoran smiled when he saw her awestruck face. "This house is the cutest and most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

 _So are you_ , he thought in his head as he brushed some snow out of her bangs. He could tell Sakura could sense what he was thinking when she turned to look at him with the same intense expression on her face that he felt sure was mirrored in his own. As he brought a hand up to cradle her rosy cheeks, her fingers reached up to pull the scarf down from his nose. Syaoran felt the cold nip at his exposed skin but knew that Sakura's warmth was waiting for him just inches away. Leaning forward, his lips caught hers and nothing existed but her breath mingling with his and the fiery passion in their hearts warming them both up from inside.

* * *

"I think the storm is going to hit earlier than we thought," Syaoran said on their walk back as he looked up at the sky. "I think the snow is falling faster and faster."

"But we haven't made snowmen yet," Sakura pouted.

"I know, but—"

He shivered as the wind began to pick up its pace. Even though he was wearing gloves, his hands felt numb and frozen and he thought longingly of the heater waiting back for them at home.

He opened his mouth to tell her they ought to really go back but his eyes softened when he saw the disappointed look on her face. He had to tread carefully. Thinking that Sakura probably still wanted to try and get at least one last outdoor bucket list item checked off before they turned in, he took a deep breath and braced himself for the cold.

However, just then, another chilling gust of wind blew past them, much stronger this time, forcing Syaoran to hang on to his hat to keep it from flying off. He tried to hold his ground but before he knew it, Sakura had grabbed his hand and pulled him forward, running the last few kilometers back to his apartment.

When they got to his door, he quickly fumbled for his keys—a task made more difficult by the fact that he couldn't feel his hands—and stuck it in the lock. He pushed open the door and let Sakura walk in first. He could tell her mood had spiraled down further into disappointment at the day but wasn't sure what to do with that. Taking their shoes off and walking through the foyer, he turned on the heater as she pulled her coat off and tossed it over the couch.

"Sakura?" he asked uncertainly as she lingered there in the middle of the living room. Walking up to her, he cupped her face in the palm of his hands and tried to read her expression.

"I'm fine," she said unconvincingly. After knowing her for all these years, it would take a lot more than that to fool Syaoran.

"Hey," he began, caressing her cheek with his thumb, "Please don't be upset."

"You know, maybe I should use magic to clear up—"

"No, it's fine. I know we had a whole list of things to do and it's not even dinner yet but we can still make hot chocolate and open presents," he reasoned. "You used a lot of magic yesterday, for which I was incredibly grateful for, but maybe we should stay inside for the rest of today."

"Yeah, you're right, as usual," she said, but she didn't smile.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Well, it's just that, we talked so long through letters while apart about doing everything on the bucket list and we aren't able to do them all and—"

"Shh, it's okay," he said, placing a hand at the back of her neck and pulling her head into his chest. "As long as I get to spend the whole day with you, that's all that matters, alright?"

He felt her hands snake around his waist and squeeze him tightly. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and nodded. Rubbing her back in what he hoped was a comforting manner, he dropped a kiss on her head.

"And hey, tomorrow is still actually Christmas day, if you want to do more outdoor activities tomorrow instead?"

Sakura lifted her head to look up at him and he watched as she mulled it over in her brain before she nodded again in agreement.

"Okay," she said. "But you owe me."

"Sounds fair," he said, leaning down to kiss her on the nose. "Do you want hot chocolate as we open presents, then?"

"That would be lovely."

Once their mugs were filled with their holiday drinks, they sat down next to the Christmas tree in the living room with gift bags strewn all around them. Now that the presents, with an especially large pile that Syaoran and his sisters had gotten for Sakura, were there before them, she looked considerably more excited and cheerful.

"Ready?" he asked, unable to hold back a grin as he thought about the look Sakura would have on her face once she opened her whole haul.

"Open mine first," she said, pushing a large bag at her side across the floor to Syaoran.

He found an oval-shaped wrapped package in the bag and pulled it out. It was much heavier than he expected and he had to stop his brain for running ahead and guessing what the gift was before he opened it. It would be nice to be surprised, especially when Sakura was watching him so intently.

Running his hand along the edge of an opening, he pulled back the wrapping paper carefully. From the slit he made so far, he could see a polished black surface with a smooth finish and his breath caught in anticipation.

"You don't have to be so neat about opening it, you know," Sakura commented with a small smile.

"I know, I just can't help it," he said, gingerly taking apart all the folds in Sakura's gift-wrapping work. When he finally pulled the paper off to find a black case beneath it all, his hands immediately found the two hatches that fastened the box shut and switched it open. The lid popped up and he lifted it open to find a beautiful and pristine calligraphy set, complete with four brushes, fresh ink, an inkstone, an ivory chop carrying the Li's family name, and red paste pad to go with it.

"Wow," he breathed, feeling his insides soften with the familiar stroke of satisfaction that always came with new books and new stationery. "This is beautiful."

"You like it?" she asked, quite unnecessarily.

He nodded and set the calligraphy set aside so that he could pull Sakura in for a hug.

"Thank you, Sakura," he whispered in her ear. "You're the best."

"I'm glad you like it," she said, pressing her lips to his neck. If they weren't sitting in the half-darkness sharing such an intimate moment, Syaoran was sure he wouldn't feel the heat that was creeping up his face now. He found that he suddenly couldn't care less about the rest of the items on the bucket list, but then Sakura pulled back with an eager expression that clearly showed that she was not on the same thought train as he was.

"And now it's my turn!"

Right, he'd have to at least let her have that first.

Grabbing the giant bag next to him and placing it in front of Sakura, he told her, "So, these are all from my sisters. Each one. Have at it."

Without further ado, Sakura took out the first wrapped gift and tore through it with childlike excitement and little care for Feimei's neatly taped up handiwork. It was incredibly endearing.

"Wow! A new kimono!" she exclaimed, standing up and letting the cloth unfold down to her feet. It was pink with a cherry blossom print obi. "It's beautiful."

She checked the tag attached to the wrapping paper. "Thank you, Feimei-sama."

"Okay, next one," she said cheerfully as she folded the kimono and placed it carefully on the couch. Pulling out the next gift, she ripped through it and let another sheen of fabric fall. It was a pink nightgown made of silk that made Syaoran wish she was staying over another night, but he pushed the thought away as soon as it came. _Focus._

"Hanyan! This is so soft and pretty," she squealed, rubbing her cheeks against the robe and soaking in the feel of it. "Thanks to… Sheifa-sama."

Then, folding that one and placing it on top of the kimono, she reached back into the bag and pulled out a medium-sized square box tied up with a bow. Pulling the ribbon off, she opened the lid and looked inside.

"Wow, thank you, Huanglian-sama," she said as she held up a bottle of perfume and stared at it. The design of the container itself was aesthetically pleasing and Syaoran could smell the faint memory of the scent. SInce he was forced to go to the mall with them, Huanglian had called him over to check about ten different perfume samples before he could pick a favorite. Sakura got up to place the perfume next to the other gifts on the couch. After being blown away by three great gifts, Sakura was starting to slow her pace. Syaoran guessed the overwhelming generosity his sisters had shown was finally getting to her.

"Last one," he said, taking out a smaller rectangular box from the bag and handing it to her. She sat back down in front of him and took the box from him. He was starting to feel insecure about his own gift. With the knowledge and expertise of much older girls, his sisters seemed to be much better at finding nice things for Sakura than he was.

"From Fuutie-sama," she said to herself as she read the tag before lifting the lid off. "Aw, this is sweet."

Syaoran knew it was a gold-plated watch with a teddy bear design etched onto the background of the clock's face and it filled him with a sense of pride for his family's ability to find good presents as he watched his girlfriend put it on her wrist.

"I really like it," she said, holding her wrist out in front of her to admire the effect.

"Well, here's the actual last gift," Syaoran said, handing her one last box. This one was smaller and thinner. "I'm probably not as great as my sisters in the art of gift giving but, I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I'll like anything you got for me," she smiled as she took the box from him and undid the bow on top. Taking off the box's cover, she let out a soft gasp of delight.

It was a rose-gold plated hairpiece but the beautiful thing about it, at least to Syaoran, was its intricate design. Of course, it was of cherry blossoms, but it was so ornately carved it made him think of her immediately. But compared to four other amazing gifts, Syaoran wasn't sure how much it stood out.

"I know it's a much smaller thing than a silk robe or perfume but—"

"Shush," she said, putting a finger to his lips. "It's so beautiful. And the best part is that you got it for me."

Taking the hairpiece from her hands, Syaoran combed his fingers through her hair and pinned it on the left side of her head. He was glad to know that it suited her perfectly.

"You look beautiful, too," he said, feeling suddenly shy. Her finger was still lingering on his lips. He opened his mouth to speak again but she shook her head at him. Smiling, she shifted her fingers and ran a thumb over his bottom lip before leaning in and covering his mouth with her own.

It was an automatic instinct by now to respond at once. Wrapping a hand around her neck and pulling her closer, he tilted his head upwards to deepen the kiss as she moved to settle herself comfortably in his lap and wrapped her legs around his waist. Her fingers twisted in his locks and balled into fists, wrenching his mouth open to hers as his other hand slid up her back to hold her in place. Drawing her tongue in between his lips, he sucked gently, eliciting a soft sigh from the back of her throat. In return, she took his bottom lip between her teeth and pulled, all the while tightening her grip in his hair.

"You know—" she murmured into his mouth between kisses, "Now—I'm glad—the storm came."

"Agreed," he said, leaning backwards and pulling her down with him while keeping their tongues locked. "It's much—warmer and cozier—this way."

Pinning him down to the carpeted floor, she broke off to stare down at him with shortened breaths and darkened eyes.

"You're right," she said. "This was on the bucket list anyways."

"You didn't actually write it down though," he pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," she said, biting her now swollen lip. "Where were my priorities?"

"Never too late to re-prioritize," he said, pulling her down by her shirt collar so that their faces were inches away from each other. Looking up into his eyes, she smiled at him and kissed him on the nose.

"I love you," she said. Then, leaning over the side of his cheeks until her warm breath tickled his ears, she whispered, "Merry Christmas, Syaoran-kun."

In response, Syaoran cradled her face in his hands and brought her back up to meet his lips. Even though they had only completed half the items on the original bucket list, Syaoran knew that in the end, as long as they were spending it together, no Christmas would ever be incomplete.

* * *

 ** _The End_**


End file.
